Spartans Fall to Tritons in Quality Conference Battle

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The University of Tampa (2-8-2, 2-3-1 SSC) men's soccer team was defeated Monday night by conference foe Eckerd College (9-4-1, 3-2-1 SSC). The two squads went into the matchup with identical Sunshine State Conference records and the hopes to improve.

Eckerd struck first after a ball off the head of Triton Sawyer Frank found its way past Spartan sophomore goalkeeper David Niepel. The goal was in the 13th minute of the contest.

Despite the Spartans recording five shots in the first half, the team was not able to level the match before the end of the period.

The second half proved to be equally as frustrating for the Spartans as they were not able to capitalize on their seven shots, three of which were on goal.

The Tritons' goal in the first period was the only one scored in the contest by either team. The Spartans fell to Eckerd with a score of 1-0.

Tampa totalled 12 shots in the match and UT's Niepel collected eight saves.

Head coach Adrian Bush commented on the match by saying, "Tonight we really had some brilliant moments of possesion and I honestly felt it was one of our more complete performances of the year. We are playing excellent soccer and I give Eckerd credit as they really made it tough in the final third of the field."

Bush continued on to state, "It is important for us to keep building on the many positive things we are doing and get ready for a very solid Flagler team in two days."

Tampa will return to their home pitch on Wednesday to face Flagler College. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Pepin Stadium. Live stats and a webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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